Briatore: Fisichella needs to help himself

The Italian was overshadowed by teammate Fernando Alonso at the French car manufacturer during the past two seasons, and the team are hoping that he will improve now that the double world champion has left.

But Briatore is adamant that the team can do nothing to help Fisichella find the form he needs to fight for regular wins - and insists the onus is on the Italian to sort things out.

"Fisichella needs to help himself," said Briatore at the launch of the R27 in Amsterdam. "We need to give all the possibility and all the technical support (to him), but in the end we are not in the car."

He added: "Fisico has the talent to win, but you need help with the talent. What you need to do is really concentrate, and that is the thing about F1.

"For the seven or eight months we are on the road, he needs to think about that. Thinking about working better with the engineering and getting more upset with himself when things go wrong - not only 'OK, it is just another race, let's forget it'.

"If you want to be number one in your job, you need to work very hard; nobody gives you anything. You need to take it, and to take it you need to work really hard."

Although some onlookers were surprised that Renault opted to stick with Fisichella for another season after his disappointing form over the past two years, Briatore insists he still believes that the three-time Grand Prix winner can deliver.

"Fisico, after three years in the team, he is well established and knows everything," he said. "It depends on him, but I am sure he has the talent.

"If I believed for one second that Fisichella does not have the talent, then for sure he would not be in Renault. But Fisico gave an incredible contribution to Renault to help win the constructors' championship."

Briatore suggested, however, that he could see evidence of Fisichella's confidence being boosted by the departure of Alonso.

"You see Fisico this year, he is better," explained Briatore. "You see him walk, he walks more quickly now!

"Last year, when he went to the podium, he was slow and his shoulders were down, but now he is quick! And, I am sure [teammate] Heikki [Kovalainen] will also push him hard."